Argonaut
by Dellez
Summary: A different trigger. Some capes find it hard to move on from their past. Taylor builds her own locker. A Tinker Taylor story.
1. Chapter 1

Left foot. Right foot. Pick up speed.

I had read online that most tinkers built a gun as their first invention. It probably wasn't the first thing they designed, but guns were generally easier and more useful. It said something about cape life that a gun was the first thing most tinkers made, didn't it? Rushing to get offensive capabilities, you think you'll be more helpful to your team, or you can defend yourself if anyone tries to take your work.

That'll only work if you've snagged some knowledge in automation. Otherwise, you're an inexperienced scientist who couldn't hit the side of the barn with their own creation. More electronic based tinkers had it easy that way, they could build a shoulder mounted turret, or eyewear that corrected aim. I was pretty sure Armsmaster had that, not that he'd need it. His online bio said he put in more man hours than two average people possibly could. Besides, he could just walk up and hit you with his famous weapon.

What most tinkers didn't think of when they thought of Armsmaster was his armour. Blue and silver, impressive but not too eyecatching. Loaded to the brim with defensive capabilities, that was the important part. Just like he could and did put a million things in his halberd, he put just as many into his armour. From what I understood, the armour was more generic than his halberd, he didn't swap the parts out when he expected to face different villains. But it was more durable than anything I'd seen, probably a hyper dense shell with electronics underneath. If it wasn't ridiculously dangerous not to have anything between his skin and the electronics, I doubt he'd have anything at all. Armour was better than a gun to start off with. You could make yourself into Glory Girl with about as much work as a good gun required. And Armsmaster had put in a lot more than that.

His impressive armour was the reason I didn't mind hitting him with mine. See, I couldn't just build a gun. Any weapon as straightforward as that would end up causing too much property damage, and would result in the unfortunate demise of unprotected capes and civillians. Well, if I added settings, I could probably make something workable, but I wasn't sure I could hit the right spot between "disable" and "they're only bones now." Water was a tricky thing like that.

Hydraulic pumps worked back and forth as I made my charge at Armsmaster. The ground was uneven and covered in a thin layer of water. I wasn't really trying to hit him. I dwarfed him in size, and I only needed to move out the way so I could make my escape. A charge was my best bet, he'd do a cool sidestep and attempt to trip me with halberd or something to that effect. While Armsmaster was intelligent, he was confident. He was trying to take me down without destroying my armour. Probably standard protocol for unknown capes with awesome equipment. I had no qualms about destroying his weapon, however, he had all the money in the world to make a new one. That's why when he tried to trip me as I passed by, I simply stepped right onto his halberd.

Snap.

Not to say his materials were weak, but compared to the pressure of the deepest seas, they were nothing. His weapon broken in two, I doubted he could put up much of a fight. I couldn't be too overconfident, though, if anyone could pack enough artillery to take me down in half a meter of stick, it was this guy. So I just kept running. Full steam ahead as the saying goes.

The large sack on my bag was the reward of my night. I likened it to Santa's bag, but with considerably less toys. Precious metals, hoarded in an ABB safe house. Not sure why they had them, I was expecting hard cash, but I didn't mind. And I was sure they wouldn't mind much either, they barely had anyone to mind anything. Those were the perils of implanting fucking bombs in everyone's head.

As I kept running, I looked at the buildings around me. I had left in the opposite direction than I had arrived, not expecting a confrontation with a hero. The buildings were ruined, hardly any had a complete roof, and most had at least ten square feet of wall missing. Not the worst part of the city, not even close. It figures the richer district would be hit harder than the poor part that the city tried so hard to hide. No building in the real ruins had more than one floor, and those were occupied by homeless, Merchants. The structures I looked upon were solid, families lived in them now. Homeless as well, but no Merchant was stupid enough to come here.

A villain, Grue, claimed the land. None of the heroes were doing anything. If I kept my armour here, maybe I would do something to get rid of him, but as it was it wasn't worth the trouble. He kept the peace, anyhow, no merchants, no E88, and certainly no ABB. I'd probably end up hearing from one of them, the Undersiders, for running through their territory like this. But it was them, a gang of teenagers, or facing a world famous hero who was probably hot on my trail. I should turn at some point, both to get to my lab and to avoid being run down by a motorbike.

I adjusted levers, and my suit made a right turn, towards the docks. Surprisingly silent, liquid shock absorbers were doing wonders. No dents in the ground either, which would be expected from this much metal and water. Armsmaster would give up soon, and I could make my way to the docks.

—

I dropped the sack into a cart and pulled myself out of the liquid inside my suit. Not exactly water, it would react to impacts entirely differently, cushioning me, but it was oppressive to be in. I was dry, thanks to a non-conductive, skin tight material I wore. It was a light orange, not sure why, and I was reasonably sure it wouldn't burn. The most directly expensive thing I had in my possession.

My armour was something else altogether. Over eight feet tall, specially reinforced steel, coloured to look like bronze. I thought it to look like something from myth, a giant man that would walk out of the sea. It had inner workings of compression tubes, allowing it to move, as fluid as the liquid that filled it. Impressive, but not great for anything other than punching and running. My automaton, really a large box full of what I thought of as watery clockwork, disassembled it and reassembled it. Fluids had to be checked, joints examined. The metal was dented where I had stepped on the halberd. Nothing critical, but it would be replaced with the next iteration of my work.

I dragged the cart of to a worn table and began to pull the metals out of the bag. Jewellery made up most of the weight, the rest was low denomination bills. Oni Lee must have stolen it while the gang was active, and no one ever got around to fencing it. Maybe a talk with the Undersiders wouldn't be such a bad thing. I was exhausted though. The liquid pressing in around me really took its toll.

I went to my bed, and I turned off the lights to the massive room. Previously an Endbringer shelter, now it was a ruin, one half caved in.

—

When I woke, I wondered why Armsmaster had been at the stash house. I hadn't even taken 15 minutes, looking through desks before finding the safe. A tip off by a concerned citizen was possible, but I didn't think any of them would have phones. Massive surveillance was possible, and he just happened to be close, or he had created a specialized detector just to look for me. I didn't like either possibility, the first ment they were just ignoring what the Undersiders were doing, the second meant I'd have to face a hero every time I took the suit of my cave. If they were able to track me into here, I'd already be in a questioning room. Not very reassuring.

Circus might be a better fence than the Undersiders, I was pretty sure she made her living as a cat burglar. But I had no idea how to find her, and I needed a bit of money to finish my next project. Dealing with the E88 was always risky, no way I would be able to reach someone level headed, even if I was white. Plus they were racists pricks. Coil, a mystery wrapped in an enigma, shrouded in a shadow of "if you try to pry no one will find you." And the Merchants were double crossings drug addicts. What did it say about the city that the best place to sell ill gotten gains was with teenage criminals? Not that I was much better, but I at least didn't terrorize people.

I resigned myself to talking to Grue. From what I'd seen, he wasn't exactly a scary guy, but he was imposing in a way entirely different from Armsmaster. He was big, and he plunged you in darkness. He was actually one of the capes I had special preparations for, one of the only ones I would be likely to face and was able to prepare for. I would need something to hide my identity, my suit wouldn't do for this.

I took most of my remaining metal and crafted it into a mask. Bronze colored, like the rest of my metal. I shaped it using high pressure water, what's the point of being a tinker if you can't do anything with tech? I didn't put much effort into detail, this wasn't something I would make a habit of wearing. I grabbed a necklace and left my desk.

I walked through my room. Expansive didn't really cover it. All my things barely took up a fifth, and I didn't specialize in miniaturization. No, this was a room designed to hold thousands of people. Floodlights were on the ceiling, only the ones near me were on. I knew others to be broken, and I didn't want to risk anything near those I suspected were faulty. I set up shop in the place I was most sure of, and hoped for no electrical surprises. Despite being a tinker, I wasn't too great with electricity, and I would avoid it if I had to. There were two exits, one I had made, the other being the entrance people used when an Endbringer came. That exit was full of rubble when I first got here, but I had cleared a small path for my cart. Not too many people were willing to investigate a broken Endbringer shelter, especially true after an attack.

I walked out through this passage, it sloped slightly upwards to reach street level height. I was in the transition area between an area of the boardwalk that survived, and the lower class part of town that Grue controlled. I wasn't sure which gang claimed the boardwalk, E88 most likely, too many skinheads being too brazen for anything else. I walked quickly into territory I knew to be Grue's. I also knew that a group of his thugs would wander by, dealing with gang members and complaints from those desperate enough to ask.

I would probably be thought of as part of the second, but a bit of cash should convince them to let me see their boss. I saw a group of them faster than I expected, leaving a boarded up house. It was late enough in the morning that they could have been inspecting it, but I couldn't say it wasn't one of their houses for sure. I put my hood up, and walked to them. "I need to see Grue."

"Huh? We're busy, he's busy, girl, don't need any fucking distractions."

I expected this, and countered with an offer I found reasonable. "It's business, something that he'll want. And there's something in it for you, too." I gave a smile and pulled out the cash from my pocket.

He grabbed the money from me and inspected it. "Fine, whatever. Georges, take her to the house, I'll call ahead." Georges, I presumed, stiffened quickly in a manner I wouldn't expect from a street thug. Ex-military? Where would Grue get someone like that? And probably a group of them. It bore thinking about, but not right now. Georges led me down the streets and through a couple of turns silently. We passed by the road I had run down through my suit, and I swore I could make out tire marks from a bike. We came to a house, no different than any of the other houses in the row. He knocked three times, and again twice. The door opened and I was ushered inside. Now I slipped on the mask. It was a risk not wearing it from the start, but I didn't want to attract too much attention in the streets. Georges left me with two other thugs, both looking at my mask peculiarly. I pulled out the necklace and said "More." They nodded. I guess they weren't the talkative types, which was fine. I wasn't either.

One of them brought me up a flight of stairs into what I would describe as a dining room if it were in another house. 6 seats, around a rectangular table. Darkness pooled around the bottom of the floor and along the walls. It was eery, disconcerting, and I knew that if Grue wanted to take me out here, he could. Not much I could do. Grue himself was sitting at the head of the table, bigger than I thought and dressed in full regalia. He looked at me expectedly, taking in my appearance. Worn out sweater, worn out jeans, wet shoes, but a bright new mask.

I pulled the necklace out of the bag I kept it in. "I need to offload this, and more like it. About 20 kilograms of fine jewellery, valuable even as precious metal." I hoped he would bite.

"Where did you get it?" He knew I didn't get it legally, that's for sure.

"ABB safehouse. Probably Oni Lee's." I saw him tense immediately. Damn, that was the wrong thing to say. Even if One Lee hadn't been seen in weeks, Lung's name carried enough weight that few were willing to cross him needlessly. "No one was there except for a hero."

"So you were the one running through my territory last night. With Armsmaster not too far behind." He said 'my' strangely, as if he was unsure about his own territory. "There's nothing I can do with this. I don't sell or buy jewellery. You can leave now…"

"Argonaut," I supplied. Not too many people knew my cape name, working unmasked most of the time had that effect. I left the necklace on the table, amends for running through his claim. Didn't want to make a bad impression. I made my way down the stairs. At the door, I was jolted out of my thoughts by one of the thugs put his arm out, stopping me.

"Boss says this might help." The thugs voice was gruff, older than I expected from his body. I was handed a piece of paper with an address on it, downtown I recognized. Far enough to be annoying, not far enough that I couldn't head back to base then to it.

—

I thought of bringing my cart along, to scavenge what I could throughout my walk. But I knew that downtown wasn't hit as hard, and people would probably object to me stealing their metal. The address brought me to a very large tent, placed in a park. I had expected a building, something similar to Grue's. I wasn't sure what I was looking for, so I put my mask on and walked inside. In front of me there was a desk, and beyond that were rows upon rows of beds, some with people in them, others without. Must be an impromptu hospital. A heavily guarded one. I noticed some not-quite-military men standing around. The closest one stepped to me and whispered, "Tattletale expected you here an hour ago. Follow me."

"Sorry to disappoint." So I would be meeting Tattletale. The Undersider no one knew anything about. At least not online. It made sense, Regent wouldn't know anything Grue wouldn't, and Hellhound wouldn't be based out of a hospital. It was unfortunate, though, that I went into this mostly blind. Online discussion pegged her as a thinker with an uncanny range of knowledge, but other than that there wasn't much. I was brought into a smaller tent, off to the side of the main one. Like me, she didn't have a costume on except for a domino mask. her clothes were much nicer than mine, whole and intact, probably bought after the attack.

"Hi, I'm Tattletale. Nice to meet you Argonaut." I doubted any surprise was evident through my mask, but she saw something anyway. She gave a small smirk, displaying confidence. "Grue called ahead, said I should expect you. Thought you'd be here earlier, but I probably had your base in the wrong location. Oh well. Show me what you've brought."

Mutely, I pulled out another necklace. Similar enough to the previous one, likely stolen from the same store. She spent a moment examining the necklace, barely even felt it. "Hmm. Good enough. How much do you have?"

"About 20 pounds. Varying metals, half of it gold. The pure metal value alone must reach over 100 grand."

A small smile, like she thought my estimation funny. "Approximately right. You didn't want to join the wards?"

If I had been slightly surprised at her knowing my name, I was shocked that she would ask that question. "No."

"They offer a lot to tinkers." Her smile disappeared, replaced by a pensive look. "Some bad blood.? Yeah, I think so. "

I didn't feel like this was honest. Like it was rehearsed. "I'll sell you the jewellery for 75 thou." I wouldn't be discussing anything else with her. I didn't know how to deal with a thinker, especially in a business meeting. I was aware of the weight of my mask, pressing into my face, as she looked at me.

"Are you sure you want money? I can offer you other things. Steel, other metals. If you're not with the PRT, then you don't have access to the better tools out there either. Probably working with scavenged metal, homebuilt equipment. Can't be any good. If you tell me what you need, I can get it for you." She said the last bit in a sing-song voice. She knew exactly what to tempt me with. Can't have been hard to figure out either, a lone tinker in a ruined city. Especially with my tastes.

A very tempting offer, but I didn't want to make a deal like that with the Undersiders. It would give people the wrong impression. If anybody found out, they would think we were working together. "No. I just want - "

She interrupted before I could finish, "I can tell you how Armsmaster found you." If metal was tempting, this was almost a clincher. "C'mon, let's talk." She put her arm around me and pulled me outside before I could resist.

—

I would have to rebuild my suit. The metal I had scavenged to build it with was easy marked. It was standard Endbringer procedure to spray the wreckage with a tiny tracking powder. Anyone trying to profit off the attack was found out. If it was some homeless guy selling the scrap for cash, that was fine. But doing it let them find organized criminals, or new capes. Like me. I probably hadn't taken enough to arouse suspicion, but when the powder started moved at 30 miles an hour through the wreckage, it wasn't hard to notice.

I ended up making a deal with Tattletale, enough metal for a new suit and new equipment. Someone would also stop by to pick up my old metal. I'd be able to dismantle everything by then, and I'd have to move everything out, so that my base didn't get found. I was no longer sure why Armsmaster hadn't barged into it. I guess I needed to move anyway. I didn't want to give up my lair, though, I had come to see it as mine. When everybody left, forgot about it, I stayed. I poured my heart into my work, from the safety of the lair. I slept there for weeks, unharmed. But it also brought back memories I'd rather forget.

—

The water was almost at the ceiling. I might be the only one who made it to this air pocket. I could hear screaming, not sure from where, the water muffled and distorted everything. The lights had gone out as soon as the inner structure of the shelter cracked. I couldn't see my hand, even if I held it an inch form my eyes. As well as the screams, I could hear the rush of roaring water. That beast was near, cutting through people as it pleased. I wasn't sure I could swim to anywhere else.

I could tell by the way the water was moving that Leviathan was drawing water to him. An attack, a defence, it didn't matter, I had to use this opportunity to escape. I plunged into the water, swam to where I knew the entrance to be. And I just kept going.

—

When I had made it to safety, and before I passed out, I thought of the last thing I saw before the lights went out. Leviathan, the monster, tearing through a thousand corpses, gore flying. The screams as people lay cut in half, others about to drown in the water that was quickly rising.

People didn't usually get close enough to an Endbringer to really be in danger. And survive, that is. Not enough that triggering during an attack was more likely than in the months after it. And the new capes that must die after triggering.

Every time I walk into my cave I think about that day. I like to think it makes me stronger, but it could be that I just can't let the last shred of my old life die.

AN: I wrote this over the night, might come back to it. Might not. Life's a mystery.


	2. Chapter 2

I woke up with a with a hand on my chest. Not my own, I could feel them near my head. My first thought was my father, but it was quickly dismissed in a wave of sadness. I looked up, a large man stood over me. White and bald, a skin head then.

"Wake up!" He shook me, but he wasn't looking at me. Before I could stop myself, I let out a gasp. "Good. Don't think of fucking moving. No one's gonna care if I cut your throat and feed you to the dogs." I could feel metal pressed against my throat, his hand no longer against my chest. He held my mask in his hands, turning it over. "White girl like you, in this part of town. And you haven't come to us yet?"

So that's what this was. I'd have to be careful not to offend him. Racist pricks could be dangerous. I tried to get up and he pressed the knife harder into my throat. "I work alone." I pulled back, and put myself against the wall my bed was near. I saw that it wasn't a knife the man had, but an extension of himself. I knew the Empire had two capes with abilities related to metal. This wouldn't be Kaiser, he was too big, and the metal was coming directly from himself. Hookwolf. This was bad. If any cape in town was going to murder me in my bed, it would be him.

One of the first few things I had made were capsules. Filled with high pressure water. Pressing on it the right way would cause it to burst open, directly away from me if I did it right. This was exactly the sort of situation I had prepared them for, but sleeping with them would be reckless. So they were in a compartment, stuck below the bed. They might as well be in China, guarded by the Yàngbǎn.

"You don't have to. We offer protection, money. Almost a family." I doubted my face looked very pleasant. "No? You've been fucking with the chinks, and we appreciate that. We protect the pure and our own. If you ever need help with the nigger next door, you know who to ask for." His muscles bulged, and he let go of me. He walked out of the cave as if he owned it, not sparing me another glance. For my part, I put my hand to my throat and felt blood. My heart pounded in my chest. I couldn't sleep without the pressure pills again. I couldn't stay here.

—

_Other people are gonna come for you. Everyone wants a tinker on their team. All the others in Brockton Bay are spoken for. A team can offer a lot to you, it's not just a one way street. Safety, among other things. _

I knew what Tattletale had been gunning for. She wanted me with the Undersiders. I couldn't blame them. They had one member capable of taking threats down. I was a godsend to them, another teen villain who wasn't a racist, I would be artillery. But I knew what I would be used for. Attacking banks, fighting heroes just for the fame. That wasn't me.

_Well if you don't join anyone willingly, you have to make a name for yourself. Or you won't like who you end up with._

I thought of Armsmaster. He hadn't said a word when he confronted me. I didn't think he enjoyed being part of a team. A scowl was common on his face in media appearances. But he would have enough seniority to be left alone to work, to have his own schedule. If I were a ward, I would have none of those things, and someone looking over my shoulder while I worked. I don't think I could take being judged like that.

I thought I could make it on my own as a Tinker. I had had all the metal I could need, before I learned it was tracked. I hadn't realized that Trainwreck had backing. I would get the most comparisons to him, we both had bulky armour without any electronics. His was bigger than anything I would make, but when I considered my life as a Tinker, I compared it to his anyway.

—

I unmade my armor, frowning the entire time. It was a shame that I would have to do this, but I couldn't risk another encounter with Armsmaster. After the last time, he would take it personally. I wasn't sure if I'd have to dismantle my box automaton. If I was making a new suit, it would be almost as much effort to format it as making a new one.

I was meeting Tattletale later, she said she would have everything by now. I wasn't sure how or where she would get literal tons of metal so quickly, or any of the specialty items she got me to ask for. She was organized, possibly with ins into non-cape mercenary organizations. The guards at the hospital were the product of that, I was sure. Grue's thugs too.

In the meantime, I carted my metal out of the cave, piece by piece. The metal wasn't too distinctive to be noticeable, and I made sure the pieces were small. I wasn't too keen on removing or getting rid of it so soon, not before I had myself another version, but again, Armsmaster. I carted the metal to the area where I had originally taken it from, a mile from the shelter. It was a part of the city that was entirely in ruins, so no one had minded my scavenging. Weeks ago, there was nothing but rubble and the occasional corpse. Not much had been cleared other than the corpses, and huts had been erected. It reminded me of Merchant territory, in a way. The people here were homeless, they had access to drugs and no one cared about the law. The people languished in misery, and nothing was being done.

I just dumped my metal behind the huts, a different one for each trip. No one questioned my strange actions. They had seen stranger over the past weeks than a girl carting around metal. A migration of stuffed animals or the failed PR event that the heroes had held. I did notice that the metal I dumped didn't last two trips in its new home. A different scavenger, looking to sell the metal for scrap or to use in a building. I didn't mind, and it would probably help me out if no one could figure out where my old suit went.

—

When I met Tattletale again, she was wearing her costume. Not too many people would wear a skin tight outfight, and even less could wear it well. Tattletale had the confidence to wear it, even if she didn't have the "Alexandria" packages. More important than the outfit, she had brought along another cape. Hellhound, the internet said, was a dangerous psychopath. Little regard for the lives of others and the ability to create terrifying creatures. She was wearing a dog mask on the side of her head, it didn't look quite right. "What gives?"

"Group meeting after, this was the best time to pick her dogs up." I didn't see any of the dogs around, and they would be damn hard to hide. "They're in one of the trucks. One on the left has your things." Before I could wonder if she meant my left or hers, she walked over to a truck and pulled the back open. "We can have it brought to wherever you are, or…"

"Can I take the truck? I'm gonna be moving soon anyway." I tried to seem friendly, more open than normal. I doubted Tattletale would fall for it. "There's a lot I could do with a truck."

"Tell you what. Come with us to the meeting, and I'll let you drive off with the truck." She smiled, as if she knew what my answer would be. She probably did. I may have tried for friendly, but I probably came across as desperate. Hellhound glared at Tattletale, I guess she wasn't okay with the change of plans. I nodded, and we left in a truck with dogs in the back.

I wasn't lying when I said there was a lot I could do with the truck. It could be one massive weapon. Enough space to have it finely tuned and crafted. A setting for most possibilities. And it was mobile. With some surplus metal, it would be just as great a tool as my suit. It wouldn't be my only weapon, I had designed some possibilities in my head over the weeks. Most of them were pathetically non incapacitating to someone like Aegis or Lung, but they would fit with my MO of "distract and run." Plans formed in my head as the truck rode along. None of us spoke.

—

When we arrived at the house, Grue's house I recognized, I was told to wait outside for a couple of minutes. It felt strange standing outside with my mask on. I thought Tattletale would have more sense than to advertise their meeting place like this. I could already see people, normal civilians, both staring at and avoiding me. I wondered if they could work out who I was just based on the mask colour. Unlikely, my work didn't attract attention. They could figure out who lived here, though, if a group of capes walked in.

I was startled out of my thoughts by Tattletale waving me inside. I pointed at the people, "They'll work it out soon if they haven't already. A hero might drop by."

"No worries, this is a temp house. Grue's moving within the next few days. The hero's won't have enough to go on by then." She walked me up the stairs, back to the room I first met Grue in. Grue and a person I assumed to be Regent were hunched together at one end of the table, whispering to eachother. Regent laughed when he realized I had arrived, and he lounged back into his chair. Hellhound was sitting opposite Regent, but she wasn't paying attention to much of anything. Grue straightened himself, but didn't move otherwise.

Tattletale took it upon herself to begin. "Argonaut, this is Regent, Grue and Bitch." Regent's mask prevented me from seeing his reaction. Grue gave a nod. Hellhound I could tell gave no reaction.

"I thought she was called Hellhound."

"Only heroes call her that."

"You forgot about me again, Tats." A girl appeared, leaning against the wall. She had a mask covering her entire face, reminding me of a demon, but she wore clothing that showed dark skin. Tattletale tried to speak again, another introduction, but the new girl waved her off. "I'm Imp. And in 3 seconds you'll forget this ever happened. 3…2…1…"

I stopped looking at the wall. The others were looking at the same spot, so I couldn't look too foolish.

"So yeah. We're the Undersiders. We make money, we have a reputation, and we haven't lost yet. We have resources, more than what you can scavenge off the street. We can protect you, and we aren't racist or worthless addicts. No one gets hurt, and we have fun." Not the most eloquent list of points, but I understood what Tattletale was trying to do. Inundate me with the good aspects of joining them, and hope I made a quick decision. But she didn't mention the bad things. To get a reputation you either had to pull big jobs, or you had to get into fights. The first often led to the second. Despite the bulk and durability of my armour, I worked best by avoiding fights. Every second I was in a fight was another second that my work degraded. A tinker couldn't make something on the fly, not against capes, and hope to win.

"I-I'll think about it." I backed up and left the room as quickly as I could. As much as I tried to convince myself joining the Undersiders was a bad idea, it was hard to shake the dread of coming face to face with someone like Lung or Kaiser on my own.

—

I dreamt of a vacation with Mom, on the beaches of Florida. Waves rolled onto the beach, and I could feel their spray tingling on my face. Mom held me tight, and we sat on those beaches for hours. I never questioned the absence of Dad.

—

"You didn't think we'd notice you going to talk to that fucking nigger?" Hookwolf. Why did I think I could stay another night, when half the world probably knew I was here. "This is how it's gonna be. You're meeting with Kaiser. You'll bow, you'll scrape, and you'll fucking beg for a spot in the Empire or I'll skin you alive."

I slipped a pill into my hand. I didn't know how quickly Hookwolf could raise his armor, or even if it was just hiding underneath his skin. I pressed the top and bottom of the pill and it burst in two. A torrent of water broke out, sending Hookwolf flying. I could already see the gleam of his own armour, though, faster than I would think possible. He was an animal, covered metal and spikes. I wouldn't be able to fight him like this, not without my armour. And that was gone. What a fucking idiot.

So I ran. Whenever Hookwolf got close, I broke another capsule. They sent me to the ground, but the beast went flying. If I could make it outside, I'd be able to hide in a house, or something, anything. The room's size worked to my disadvantage here. If I were already in a house, I could break a wall, and make my escape more quickly. But this was pure terror followed by moments of relief. Hookwolf was enjoying this, or he'd do something else than run straight for me. Soon enough I would run out of capsules.

I didn't have to run anymore though. The room was filling with darkness. I knew what this meant, but my panic only increased. I couldn't see anything, but I could feel the water at my feet.

—

I remember the dark more than I remember anything else. When the lights went out, everyone knew what that meant. There weren't any heroes here to stop him, and there wouldn't be for another minute or so. Luck was all anybody had.

—

AN: Well that's chapter two. I guess. I think at this point there has to be more. Feel free to point out any mistakes, I noticed some in the last chapter. Now they're fixed. Yay.


End file.
